Unhelpful error message

[Stephen Tucker]

Hi,

I have just been thrown through an unecessary loop because of an unhelpful
error message.

I am running Python 2.7.10 on a Windows 10 machine.

I incorporate sample output from IDLE:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

>>> print float ("123.456")
123.456
>>> print float ("")

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<pyshell#60>", line 1, in <module>
    print float ("")
ValueError: could not convert string to float:
>>>

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The unhelpful message is the response that the system gives when you try to
convert a null string to a floating point number. Now, in the example I
have given here, it is obvious that the string is null, but in the example
that threw me into a loop, it was not obvious.

It would be more helpful is the system replied:

ValueError: could not convert null string to float

Any chance of that becoming the case?

Stephen Tucker.


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